Murphy: U.S. needs billions for infrastructure

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The nation’s infrastructure has decayed to the point that the country has no other choice but to fix and upgrade its grid so it can handle climate change, a growing population and globalization, said a leading national planning expert.

Tom Murphy, Urban Land Institute senior resident fellow, said the European Union, China and India have worked to bring their infrastructure systems up-to-date, while America’s hasn’t received a major boost since the 1950s. He spoke at the 2009 Global Trade & Transportation Symposium in Jacksonville. Murphy urged attendees to look at ways to cut down on gasoline use, pointing to the U.S.’s dependence of foreign oil, with much of it coming from unfriendly countries such as Venezuela and Russia.

Murphy, who served three terms as Pittsburgh’s mayor, said Northeast Florida needs to prepare for the 600,00 residents it will gain within the next decade. Developers most value property in the city and inner suburbs, not the outlying green areas, which require highways to connect them to the city.

“That turns everything around,” said Murphy. “There is a whole discussion that is going on in communities on how to compete in a new world.”

The nation will have to spend about $2.2 trillion within the next five years to get its transportation and water infrastructure up to par. He questioned why Florida was unable to get a passenger train line from Jacksonville to Orlando when the European Union’s diverse body could create a united rail system.

“Being world class community isn’t about money but having the community will to pull together the money,” said Murphy.

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